@producersguild
“Underway. Packed house at the PGA Awards nominees panel.”
These are some of the filmmakers on the red carpet from the 2013 Producers Guild Awards. With Brad Pitt, one of the many Producers of 12 Years a Slave, and the very talented Steve McQueen, the director of this multiple Award Winning film that later won an Oscar for best picture, along with leading man Chiwetel Ejiofor, who later captured an Oscar win for best actor, collectively express thoughts on the film, as well as views on the topic of race in America. Not surprisingly though, Lupita Nyong’o also went on to win an Oscar for best supporting actress for the same film.
The 12 Years a Slave motion picture went on to receive a tie for the PGA’s most prestigious award, the Darryl F. Zanuck Award for Outstanding Producer of Theatrical Motion Pictures, with the film Gravity. A science fiction film co-written and directed by Alfonso Cuarón, starring Sandra Bullock and George Clooney. The film is about astronauts stranded in space when their space shuttle is destroyed during an orbit collision. The film also went on to win an Academy Award for best director and best best achievement in visual effects. Pictured below is an exhibit at Cine Gear Expo 2016, where they showed off their amazing technologies in cinema. Pictured below is the Mo-Sys StarTracker exhibit at Cine Gear Expo 2016 at Paramount Studios during the Cine Gear Expo 2016, where they showed off their most amazing technologies in cinema. Producers however are the fabric of any film’s production. They are the professional people behind all of the wonderful things one might see in a movie. A film producer is in charge of it all, from the screenplay, to the actors, cast and crew. They are the ones responsible for the entire project from start to finish. The producer could work for a motion picture studio or they could be an independent and or owner of a business enterprise described as a production company.
The producer oversees the production of the movie, this involves the development, financing and the making of the film. He or she coordinates, supervises and controls matters such as raising funding, hiring key personnel, and arranging for distributors, foreign and domestic. Distribution involves the advertising, publishing, licensing, promotion, reproduction, delivery and the exhibition of the completed film. The producer is involved throughout all phases of the filmmaking process from inception to completion of a project.
In the early 20th century, the producer also tended to wield ultimate creative control on a film project. However, with the demise of Hollywood’s studio system in the 1950s, creative control began to shift into the hands of the director. Changes in movie distribution and marketing in the 1970s and ’80s gave rise to the modern-day phenomenon of the independent producer and the Hollywood blockbuster, which tended to bring power back into the hands of the producer.
While marketing and advertising for films accentuates the role of the director, apart from a few well-known filmmakers, it is usually the producer who has the greatest degree of control in the American Motion Picture industry today. The task is challenging yet rewarding, one reaps great rewards from producing a film. Production companies seek all kinds of distribution arms from major distributors such as the big 6, i.e., Sony Pictures, Universal Pictures, Warner Brothers, Paramount Pictures, 20th Century Fox, or Walt Disney Studios and sub-major distribution companies such as Lionsgate, Miramax, Relativity Media, DreamWorks, The Weinstein Company, Focus Features, New Line Cinema, and Marvel Studios.
Through the years of advanced technology within the 21st Century, other companies have emerged as alternatives for film distribution, such as Netflicks, Amazon Studios, independent Cable Networks, and or straight to DVD/ RedBox have proven to be able to handle these films with sensitive care.
These distributors have experience with films of many genres. In addition, filmmakers often showcase their full-length feature films at film festivals foreign and domestic in order to have-increasing advantage in negotiating deals.
Film festivals what such as, the Robert Redford endorsed Sundance Film Festival, The Slamdance Film Festival, the Cannes Film Festival, the Pan African Film Festival (PAFF), or the Los Angeles Film Festival, award winners from exhibitions and often get picked up for distribution by major film studios, which go on to worldwide releases. List of Major
Film Festivals.
- The Sundance Film Festival is a film festival in the United States, and ranks amongst the top five events of its type in the world. It is the largest independent cinema festival in the U.S. Held annually in Park City, Salt Lake City, and Ogden, Utah as well as at the Sundance Ski Resort, the festival is the premiere showcase for new work from American and international independent filmmakers. The festival comprises competitive sections for American and independent dramatic and documentary films, and a group of non-competitive showcase sections. The festival has also become the premiere showcase for sponsors.
The Slamdance Film Festival takes place each year in Utah at the same time as the Sundance Film Festival, competing with Sundance to provide what its supporters consider a truer representation of independent filmmaking. It champions beginning directors with limited or no budgets. The festival began in 1995. Other affiliated Slamdance film festivals have since been created internationally, in countries like China and Poland.
The Cannes Film Festival (French: le Festival international du film de Cannes or simply le Festival de Cannes) is the world’s most prestigious film festival, first held from September 20 to October 5, 1946 in the resort town of Cannes, in the south of France. Since then, it has been held annually in May with a few exceptions.
The Pan African Film Festival (PAFF), established in 1992 is a non-profit corporation dedicated to the promotion of cultural and racial tolerance and understanding through the exhibition of film, art and creative expression. It’s usually showcased at the Baldwin Hills Crenshaw Plaza (BHCP) in the Crenshaw District of Los Angeles California. As well as Atlanta, Georgia.
The Los Angeles Film Festival also known as the LA Film Fest, (NO LONGER ACTIVE) was produced by Film Independent, a non-profit organization for independent filmmakers. The LA Film Fest was held annually in June in Los Angeles, California since 2001. The festival was host to venues such as, LA Live, Bing Theater at LACMA, Cinerama Dome & ArcLight Cinemas Hollywood, The Culver Hotel,and TCL Chinese Theater. The LA Film Fest attracted more than 90,000 filmmakers, film lovers and crew members alike for nearly twenty years.
The process of producing a film is creative, such as described in the book, What a Producer Does: The Art of Moviemaking (Not the Business), by Buck Houghton. As well as a very complex business structure. Such as negotiating production deals and creating the overall package.
The finalizing of the script, the selecting of a director, the casting of actors, production crew, etc. But most of all creating a budget and not going over. This is why networking and cultivating relationships within the industry as well as having mentors is important. The Produced By conference held annually in LA and New York is a good place to start. This is where independents filmmakers network to possibly find investors, venture capitalists, banks, and or angel investors to fund a single film. Usually held at various major studio facilities, the registration fee to Producers Guild Members is $375, and General Admission is set at $1,099, with various other options, a small price to pay if you see the value.
There is also a very interesting program called the Diversity Committee, where they assist aspiring filmmakers of diverse backgrounds to produce films. This program is free aside from the application fee of $50.00 which is rare these days to have the studio, investor, or mentor back a relatively new producer, as well as teach the most important aspects of filmmaking. This is the most wonderful program, which also adheres to the formula, Entertainment Equals Diversity and that’s #Socialbilitty on the producers guild awards hosted by the PGA.
Producers Guild of America (PGA) is a trade organization representing television producers, film producers and New Media producers in the United States. The PGA’s membership includes over 7,000 members of the producing establishment worldwide. Its co-presidents are Gary Lucchesi and Lori McCreary. The PGA is overseen by a National Board of Directors. Vance Van Petten has served as the organization’s National Executive Director since 2000. Read More…
The Producers Guild of America Award was originally established in 1990 by the Producers Guild of America as the Golden Laurel Awards, created by PGA Treasurer Joel Freeman with the support of Guild President Leonard Stern, in order to honor the visionaries who produce and execute motion picture and television product. Read More…